Insider Selling: Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) VP Sells 980 Shares of Stock

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) VP Jay S. Buth sold 980 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.99, for a total value of $61,730.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 24,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,535,318.26. The trade was a 3.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Eversource Energy Price Performance

ES stock traded down $0.41 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $62.96. The company had a trading volume of 3,177,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,167,371. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $58.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.50. Eversource Energy has a 12-month low of $54.75 and a 12-month high of $69.01. The company has a market capitalization of $23.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.01. Eversource Energy had a return on equity of 10.99% and a net margin of 6.82%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be given a dividend of $0.7525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $3.01 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.78%. This is a positive change from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 130.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Eversource Energy from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Eversource Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Eversource Energy from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Eversource Energy from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Eversource Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.45.

Institutional Trading of Eversource Energy

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ES. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Eversource Energy by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,609,716 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,561,936,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387,072 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Eversource Energy by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,539,895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,737,990,000 after purchasing an additional 430,587 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 38.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,470,356 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $945,893,000 after buying an additional 4,585,232 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Eversource Energy by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,933,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $570,500,000 after acquiring an additional 226,972 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,557,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $547,550,000 after purchasing an additional 517,042 shares during the period. 79.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Eversource Energy

Eversource Energy, a public utility holding company, engages in the energy delivery business. The company operates through Electric Distribution, Electric Transmission, Natural Gas Distribution, and Water Distribution segments. It is involved in the transmission and distribution of electricity; solar power facilities; and distribution of natural gas.